Oct 22 September Review

Hello you lovely lot. Autumn is here and I couldn’t be happier because it means two things. staying in is the new going out and the TV is about to get juicy. This month has all been about brilliant TV and discovering new writing for me so grab a cuppa and have a read.

EXIT WEST

I am now a member of two book clubs (I know… Im mad) at our work book club we try and read things that challenge us or that have had a lot of attention. We were very much late to the party on this one but it was worth the wait. Exit west, written by guardian columnist and booker prize shortlister Mohsin Hamid, is incredibly prescient and tells the story of Nadia and Saeed, they live in a war torn city and discover that there are mysterious doors popping up that lead to other countries. A very quick and easy read which reveals some of the haunting thoughts and feelings that many refugees across the world must feel.

SHE MUST BE MAD

She must be mad is written by Charley Cox, the 21 year old poetry sensation that is taking over the internet. I have recently got into poetry after reading the wonderful The sun and her flowers by Rupi Kaur which I would also recommend. This collection has been in the works for many years and Charley really captures what it is like to grow up as a woman in the modern world. There are some funny, sexy and very moving poems in this collection and it really makes me wish I had my shit together enough at 21 to produce an anthology!

KILLING EVE

Everyone has been raving about this and for good reason. New BBC drama with a dark comedy feminist twist starring the next big thing, Jodie Comer. I gobbled up this series. It is beautifully shot and It was wonderful to see two women in lead roles but also handling such a dark subject matter with some brilliantly funny highlights. This is the sort of thing you can binge on over a weekend and feel great about it afterwards.

WANDERLUST

Another BBC drama but very different subject matter. This series looks at a long married couple, Joy and Alan who live in Manchester. Joy is a psychotherapist and after realising they have a stale sex life they decide to begin seeing other people whilst staying together. It is very new territory, with the rise of open marriages it is interesting to see the BBC cover this. Tony Collette is incredible and although I thought it was slow at first I became captivated by this show. I think it demonstrates that not all marriages have to follow the same pattern now and we should all be able to decide what works best for us. Sidenote- I also want everything in their house.

ANTARCTICA

I have never been a short story reader, I guess I didn’t really understand the format, but since starting my course I have really come to love them. Antarctica by Claire Keegan is a short story collection and the title story really captivated me. It is brilliantly written and is a great format to be able to dip in and out of when you are short on time.